Comedian Drew Carey will own part of Seattle MLS

Published 10:00 pm, Monday, November 12, 2007

The comedian, television star and game-show host made assurances when he was announced as the latest addition to the Seattle MLS ownership group at the George and Dragon Pub on Monday that he was not just a marquee name to help create buzz around the new team.

With the Arsenal-Reading game as a TV backdrop, Carey announced Monday that his involvement with the Seattle MLS club would mean a unique approach to running the team.

First, Carey wanted to allow fans to buy memberships that would allow them to, among other things, vote on the fate of the team's general manager.

"If you don't like the job he's doing, if he doesn't have a winning team, if you don't like the product, if you don't think the hot dogs taste good when you go to the stadium, you can just vote him out," Carey said, with co-owner and general manager Adrian Hanauer grinning in the background.

"We're not afraid to let the fans have the power," Carey added.

Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain and Atletico Barboa in El Salvador institute this democratic system and were Carey's inspiration. He even became a member of Barcelona after a recent European trip.

"I went to Europe and saw how Barcelona's organization was structured; I thought we should have that in America," said Carey, 49, a Cleveland native who became a soccer fan after attending an MLS game in Los Angeles and has been active in pursuit of a soccer fix all around the world ever since.

"No other fans in the United States will have the chance to do what Seattle soccer fans will be able to do," he said.

Second, Carey wanted to be part owner of the only professional team in America that has a marching band.

The ownership group of Hanauer, Roth and Paul Allen agreed to Carey's demands and brought him into the fold.

The expansion team will be made official Tuesday during a downtown news conference that will include MLS commissioner Don Garber and Gov. Chris Gregoire.

For Carey, the announcement caps a year in which he has hosted two game shows and become engaged.

"Every month it seems like some big thing is happening. I don't know what's going on this year, but it's a good year to be Drew Carey," he said.